Fluesheet may have a valid point about Europeans interest in the "Old West" and therefore model RR's with a western theme. ie: Marlkin and Trix models. I first encountered this as a soldier in Germany in the 40's and early 50's. Often in a bar, when German men found I came from the West coast ( Oregon, Northern CA) we spent hours talking about the people, geography and of course Indians. Some even knew the names of the local volcanoes. Hood, Shasta, Lassen, St. Helens, etc. Another time when crossing the U.S., going west, on a bus in the 50's there were a lot of Brits and Germans riding along. They kept asking me when we would see Indians. And then it happened, somewhere in Wyoming we saw a guy in full costume with feathers and all. I don't know how it came about but that handsome dude made my day. Also, my Swedish brother-in-law is a huge western fan even though he lives 10,000 miles away. It comes, of course, from the old western books and also Hollywood. It's the romance of freedom and the relative anarchy that prevailed in that early day out here. My grandfather was a successful gold miner and my father travelled the west on horseback in the early 1900's as a teacher. Really, it's still a little like that now as it's horse and cow country and gold mining is big again. The Old West hasn't completely disappeared except that the local Indians are now lawyers and business men and the bad guys are chased down using choppers.
American Made ?????
- Thread starter dwight77
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The direction this thread has taken reminds me of an incident that occurred when I was about 12 years old. My dad was born and raised in California. My mother was born in New Hampshire and grew up near Syracuse, N.Y. In the mid 1950's my dad sold a business and we took the summer to travel back to the East Coast to visit my mom's relatives. Driving through the Ozarks, my dad stopped for gas at a "mom & pop" gas station/general store. When the lady who waited on us saw the California license plates on the old station wagon, she said "There isn't anyway you could get me out to that place!" "If you don't get shot by outlaws, you'll get scalped by the wild Indians!"
Speaking of the "wild west," when my family moved from Iowa to Arizona, it was not uncommon to see "indians" dressed in their tribal clothes for special occasions. The first palce we lived was very close to a family of Yavapai Apaches. I became friends with the oldest son, named Eddie. For many years, we told the story of us playing "cowboys and Indians." And I always had to play the "Indian!" We got a lot of strange looks, before people would start laughing at our joke.
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Another reason I've found that many Europeans, and it seems Germans in particular, are interested in the Southwest is that the landscape is so different than anything they're accustomed to - densly packed cities, mountains, valleys and trees cause for a lot of curving roads and blocked views. If you're ever on a trip to Death Valley, take note of how many German or French tourists you'll encounter - not only do they find the landscape intriguing (as you likely do, if you're also taking a trip out there), but they've likely never seen a stretch of road with no traffic that disappears at the horizon, with nary a curve, 12 or 15 miles long. Or a roadside sign reading "Next Gas - 55 Mi".
